Star Wars Episodes IV – VI (Original Trilogy)

Cast

Luke Skywalker                                 Mark Hamill

Han Solo                                            Harrison Ford

Princess Leia Organa                         Carrie Fisher

Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi                     Alec Guinness

Darth Vader                                        David Prowse/Voiced by James Earl Jones

Anakin Skywalker                             Sebastian Shaw/Hayden Christensen (2004 DVD release)

C-3PO                                                Anthony Daniels

R2-D2                                                Kenny Baker

Chewbacca                                        Peter Mayhem

Yoda                                                  Frank Oz (Voice and puppeteering)

Papatine/Darth Sidious                     Elaine Baker/Voiced by Clive Revill

Papatine/Darth Sidious                     Ian McDiarmid (2004 DVD release)

Star wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

            The first in the 3 part (6 part with the release of the “new” trilogy) movie series. It begins like all star wars movies do, the famous opening crawl.

It is a period of civil war.

Rebel spaceships, striking

from a hidden base, have won

their first victory against

the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel

spies managed to steal secret

plans to the Empire's

ultimate weapon, the DEATH

STAR, an armored space

station with enough power

to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's

sinister agents, Princess

Leia races home aboard her

starship, custodian of the

stolen plans that can save her

people and restore

freedom to the galaxy....

You soon find out that Princess Leia needs help from Obi-Won Kenobi and sends a droid to go find him. However Luke finds the droid first and finds part of the message meant for Obi-Won Kenobi. He brings the droid to Obi-Won and finds out he is a Jedi with great power. He joins the rebellion to fight the evil galactic empire and restore peace to the galaxy. On their adventure they meet other heroes that will help them on their journey, mainly Han Solo and Chewbacca. They also find out about the death star and make plans to destroy it. It ends with the death star finally being destroyed.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

               In this second part of the trilogy when see the power of the empire and how the rebellion has no hope for survival.

It is a dark time for the

Rebellion. Although the Death

Star has been destroyed,

Imperial troops have driven the

Rebel forces from their hidden

base and pursued them across

the galaxy.

Evading the dreaded Imperial

Starfleet, a group of freedom

fighters led by Luke Skywalker

has established a new secret

base on the remote ice world

of Hoth.

The evil lord Darth Vader,

obsessed with finding young

Skywalker, has dispatched

thousands of remote probes into

the far reaches of space....

When find out that Darth Vader has started his quest to find the young Luke Skywalker so that he can bring him to the dark side of the force. Luke finds out through a serious of events that he must go and find a Jedi master by the name of Yoda. When the rebel base that Luke is at is attacked by the empire, Luke sets out on his quest to find this Yoda. He soon finds this master and starts his training. However he receives a vision that his friends, Han Solo and Princess Leia, are in trouble and need his help. He pauses his Jedi training and sets out to find them. However it was a trap set by Darth Vader to capture him and bring him to the emperor. When this happens you find out a surprising secret about Darth Vader.

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

               In this third and final episode of the trilogy we see the final and darkest chapter in Luke's life.

Luke Skywalker has returned to

his home planet of Tatooine in

an attempt to rescue his

friend Han Solo from the

clutches of the vile gangster

Jabba the Hutt.

Little does Luke know that the

GALACTIC EMPIRE has secretly

begun construction on a new

armored space station even

more powerful than the first

dreaded Death Star.

When completed, this ultimate

weapon will spell certain doom

for the small band of rebels

struggling to restore freedom

to the galaxy...

Luke makes a plan to capture his friend Han Solo from his carbonated prison. But in the process is captured himself. He and Han fight their way to freedom and in the process kill Han Solo's captor. However the rebellion finds out about a plan to make a second death star. And its almost complete. So they make a plan to destroy it. However in the process Luke is captured and brought in front of the Emperor himself. He then fights Darth Vader and wins. The Emperor tells Luke that he most kill Darth Vader for his journey to the dark side to be complete. But Luke will not do it. And so the Emperor attempts to kill Luke but Darth Vader kills him instead. With the Emperor and death star destroyed they celebrate there victory and the final credits role.

REVIEW

               This is a great Trilogy, possible one of the best of all times. It has a great story in which you feel connected to the main characters. It has drama as well with a very interesting love triangle. As well as possible the most surprising plot twists of all time. It has wonderful character development where we see a young Luke who wants to just leave his Aunt and Uncle and go fight, to this great, powerful, and Wise Jedi who wants to bring peace to the galaxy. You also see growth in Han Solo who goes from this immature smuggler to a great general of the rebellion. It also revolutionized special effects of the time. Making a huge advancement for movies

               While there aren't many things wrong with the movie one of my biggest pet peeves is towards the end. In all DVD editions of the Final movie, Return of the Jedi, they replaced Sebastian Shaw, the ghost of Anakin Skywalker, with Hayden Christensen. This did not work at all with the movie. You have this young Anakin Skywalker, who Luke has never seen before, with this old Obi-Won Kenobi and Yoda. If they were going to replace one they might as well have replaced all 3 of them.

Fun Facts about Star Wars

1. One of the most famous lines in Star Wars "Luke, I am your father" is never said. The real line is "No, I am your father"

2. Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C-3PO, and Kenny Baker, the actor who played R2-D2, hated each other.

3. Darth Sidious was originally played by a woman.

4. The line "No, I am your father" wasn’t placed in until right before the movie was sent to the theaters. All the actors where told the line was "Obi-Won is your father" and Luke's reaction was to the line. They did this because they didn’t want any rumors to go about and ruin the twist.

5. The scene where stormtrooper hits his head wasn’t found until after it was in theaters. 

Here's a video of the stormtrooper hitting his head

The Lord of the Rings trilogy

“Galadriel: "It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves; immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven, to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power. For within these rings was bound the strength and the will to govern over each race. But they were all of them deceived, for a new ring was made. In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret, a master ring, to control all others. And into this ring he poured all his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. One ring to rule them all. One by one, the free peoples of Middle Earth fell to the power of the Ring. But there were some who resisted. A last alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor, and on the very slopes of Mount Doom, they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth. Victory was near, but the power of the ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword. And Sauron, enemy of the free peoples of Middle-Earth, was defeated. The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever... but the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the ring of power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur, to his death. And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, the ring ensnared another bearer. The ring came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels under the Misty Mountains, and there it consumed him. The ring gave to Gollum an unnatural long life. For five hundred years it poisoned his mind; and in the gloom of Gollum's cave, it waited. Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear, and the Ring of Power perceived. Its time had now come. It abandoned Gollum. But then something happened that the Ring did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable. A hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, of the Shire. For the time will soon come when hobbits will shape the fortunes of all..."

Actors

Frodo Baggins                                     Elijah Wood

Aragorn                                                Viggo Mortensen

Boromir                                                Sean Bean         

Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck              Dominic Monaghan

Samwise Gamgee                                  Sean Astin

Gandalf                                                Ian McKellen

Gimli                                                   John Rhys-Davies

Legolas                                                 Orlando Bloom

Peregrin "Pippin" Took                          Billy Boyd

Bilbo Baggins                                       Ian Holm

Arwen                                                  Liv Tyler

Lord Elrond                                          Hugo Weaving

Éowyn                                                 Miranda Otto

King Théoden                                       Bernard Hill

Treebeard Voiced by                             John Rhys-Davies

Sméagol/Gollum                                   Andy Serkis

Saruman                                               Christopher Lee

Gríma Wormtongue                              Brad Dourif

Faramir                                                David Wenham

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In the begging we meet Bilbo Baggins who is throwing birthday party, where he plans to leave everything he owns to his nephew, Frodo, and go to live with the elves. However he plans to leave in quite a spectacular way. At the party he gives a grand speech and then suddenly disappears. He had put on a ring he received from his old journeys. A ring of great power, the One Ring of Sauron himself. With some convincing from his old friend, the powerful Gandalf the Grey, he leaves the ring and goes to live with the elves. That’s when we meet are young hero, Frodo Baggins. Gandalf knows that this ring is powerful and that the servants of Sauron are on their way to claim it. He advises Frodo to leave his homeland and meet him at a nearby town, Bree, while he seeks council from his mentor and friend, Saruman the white. And so Frodo set’s off on his journey, but before he leaves, he is joined by his friends Samwise Gamgee (Sam), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) and Peregrin Took (Pippen). As he is leaving he is chased by a servant of Sauron, a Nazgul. When he gets to Bree he meets a ranger (and as they find out latter the decedent of Isildur and rightful king of Gondor) called Aragorn. He leads them to Rivendell where we meet all the heroes of Lord of the rings. It is there that it is decided that the rings should be destroyed. And so the Fellowship of the ring is formed. The 9 Warriors of the Free peoples of Middle-earth to go against the 9 Nazgul riders. The fellowship consist of Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippen, Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf. And they set off on their journey to destroy the ring. However it is not an easy journey and they not only lose 2 members of their company but are split up into 3 different parties. One of which has been captured by the enemies. By the end there seems to be almost no hope.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

            This movie picks up right where the last one left off. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas head after Merry and Pippen. While Frodo and Sam Head towards Mount Doom with the help of a newly meet character, Sméagol/Gollum. Sméagol/Gollum is a creature that has been twisted and changed by the power of the one ring, and thus as a dual personality. One side, Sméagol, is good while his other half, Gollum, has been twisted and willing to do anything to get the ring back even kill. However because he knows a secret path into Mordor Frodo has no choice but to trust him. Merry and Pippen are rescued by Treebeard. Treebeard is and ent (a magical living, moving, talking tree person). He brings Merry and Pippen to old friend, Gandalf. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas find evidence that points to the death of the thought to be Merry and Pippen. When the meet the Riders of Rohan they believe that this is confirmed. They also inform the trio that the king of Rohan has been corrupted by a servant of Saruman’s named Wormtongue. When they reach there they find that this is true and warn him that an army sent by Saruman is on its way to destroy all the kingdom of Rohan. But the king refuses to do anything until Gandalf shows up and frees the king from Wormtongue. The king heads to Helms Deep where they plan on making there last stand. Merry and Pippen see this army as they travel with Treebeard and try to convince him to attack Saruman as his fortresses while it’s unguarded. After a long decision Treebeard agrees.  And so the battle of Helms Deep takes place while Treebeard attacks Saruman. Meanwhile Frodo Sam and Gollum are captured by Faramir and lead to Osgiliath where, after a small battle Faramir decides to release them and send them on their way. However Gollum who feels betrayed by Frodo decides to kill him by lead them to a cave where an unknown beast lives.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of King

            The third and final of the trilogy. It starts off giving a bit of back story on Gollum, but after pretty much dives right into the action and drama of the final movie. We see for the first time Merry and Pippen split up. Pippen goes with Gandalf to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, while Merry stays at Rohan. Gandalf tries to convince the king of Gondor to light the Beacons to get help from Rohan. But he refuses saying the Rohan has never done anything to help them out before. But Gandalf lights them anyway calling for aid from Rohan. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas leave to go find the army of the dead for help when Gondor calls for it. While this is happening we see Frodo Sam and Gollum making their way to Mount Doom. In this movie we see what how the ring has truly corrupted Frodo. He soon becomes hostile to Sam, telling him to leave and not come back. Frodo continues without his friend and companion into a cave. However once inside he discovers that it is a trap but Gollum to reclaim the ring. The war that will decide the fate of man begins. Minas Tirith is all that stand between the Sauron and the destruction of man. As the war begins things are starting to look bad for the men of Gondor. However when all hope seems lost Rohan arrives. With all the horsemen they could summon in the time they had. They are able to push back the enemy and even make them retreat, but then a new enemy presents itself. Evil men who have sworn their lives to Sauron arrive on the backs of Mumakil (Giant elephants). And they start to push back the riders of Rohan, while the many Orcs have broken into the first few levels of Minas Tirith and are destroying everything. Then Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas arrive with the army of the dead to wipe out the entire enemy army. Meanwhile Frodo has been captured by the giant spider Shelob. But Sam had turned around and returned to help his friend Frodo. And fights the beast, injuring it and forcing it into the caves from whence it came. With Frodo saved they continue to Mount Doom to destroy the ring. However Gollum attacks them and tries to take it back. They fight him off and continue to make their way. They soon reach the fires, but Frodo finally being completely corrupted by the ring decides to keep it for himself, putting it on and disappearing. But Gollum jumps on him and bites off his finger with the ring. Frodo in pain falls back off the cliff sending Gollum and the ring back into the fires where it is destroyed once and for all. Sam helps Frodo up and they are rescued by the giant eagles. The movie ends with Frodo leaving middle-earth with Bilbo and the Elves.

So where they any good?

            They are an absolutely amazing trilogy. Directed by the amazing Peter Jackson, arguable one of the best directors of the time. The epic battles are breath taking and make you grip the edge of your seat in excitement and fear. One of my favorite moments in all the movies, a moment that made me say out loud “Wow that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen” was when Orlando Bloom (Legolas)  climbed up and Mumakil and shoot it in the head killing in then flying off the end of its truck as it came crashing to the ground. Not only that, but the makeup on the Orcs and Uruk-hai is absolutely spectacular. The acting by everyone is very convincing and makes you really connect to the characters. In fact in the Two Towers when Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) kicks a helmet after finding out the hobbits Merry and Pippen are dead, he actually broke his toe. The scream he gives is real pain, after the shooting Peter Jackson decided to put that take into the movie.

            However with the good comes the bad. Such as the fact that if you haven’t seen the previous movie you would get the sequel. There is no explanation of what happened in the previous movies in the Two Towers or Return of the King. So if you want to understand the story at all you have to watch them in order. And close to each other otherwise you could forget what happened in the previous movie. However the movies do flow together nicely the stories continues right where it left of, needing no fillers, such as what happened between them.

            Overall I would recommend this movie to anyone, it has drama, action and suspense. Great movie 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Cites: J.R.R. Tolkien, J., & Peter Jackson, P. (2001). The lord of the rings. [0]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)